Formalised Historical Materialism as a Research Tool

Abstract

In sociological theorising there is often too much disembodied 'structure' and 'process' without actors, or actors and action without structure. This paper proposes a solution to this dilemma with the conceptual aid of (1) so-called process matrices within which parameters of correlation, compability and contradiction of processes can be defined, and (2) actor-process matrices within which parameters of actor-process specialisation, crystallization, polarisation and cnss-cross are defined. This relatively uninterpreted and formal conceptual framework is then applied and interpreted in terms of Marxist historical materialism, which in this manner can be seen as a special instance of actor-process theory comparable with, for instance, the theories of Durkheim and Parsons. Finally, part of the interpreted Marxist version of actor-process theory is applied to an analysis of the 'dynamic inefficiency of capitalism' as diagnosed by Kelvin Lancaster, and an evaluation sought of some recent reforms within Swedish Social Democracy in terms of this Marxist actor-process model.